destroyers

In the midst of the Korean War, American General Douglas MacArthur came to define Taiwan as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier”. It was not a metaphor about his army, but about his geographical position: whoever controls the island controls one of the main accesses between the China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. More than seventy years later, that location continues to condition the strategy of the great powers. Five destroyers a day. Just a few years ago, seeing several Chinese warships surrounding Taiwan was synonymous with a diplomatic crisis or extraordinary military maneuvers. Today it happens practically every day. Beijing has managed to transform the exceptional in routine and, with this, it has taken a decisive step towards a much more ambitious objective: to progressively isolate the island without having to fire a single shot. The fence is no longer prepared, it is practiced. I was counting a few days ago the wall street journal that the Chinese Navy maintains permanently between five and six ships of war around Taiwan, a figure that increases when other units are incorporated occasionally. The ships remain in the area for approximately two weeks before being relieved by others, allowing a growing number of crews to accumulate experience in a scenario that could become a future battlefield. More than a show of force, the deployment constitutes continuous training for an eventual blockade or invasion. Each patrol serves to learn and wear out. The constant presence of these ships forces Taiwan to answer over and over again with its own naval and coast guard units. Each incursion involves hours of monitoring, fuel, maintenance and crews on permanent alert. While the island consumes resources to react, China collects information on how Taiwanese ships move, how long they take to respond, what communications they use and what their movements would be in the event of conflict. Control the waters. The new step consists of extend the pressure towards the east of Taiwan through patrols of its Coast Guard. This area concentrates intense maritime traffic and would have enormous strategic value in a hypothetical blockade of the island. Beijing no longer limits its activity to the strait that separates it from the continent, but rather projects its presence towards the western Pacific to reinforce its message that it also considers those waters under its jurisdiction. Beyond surveillance. I remembered the new york times in a report that the Chinese coast guard does not act solely as a maritime police force. In recent months they have gone so far as to require information from merchant ships about their destination, crew or cargo, trying to exercise an authority that Taiwan completely rejects. This type of action allows Beijing to rehearse control mechanisms of maritime traffic using armed civilian organizations, a strategy much more difficult to respond militarily than an exclusively naval deployment. The real objective. Because China does not need to completely close access to Taiwan overnight to upset the balance in the region. It is enough to gradually increase the intensity of their patrolsexpand the areas where it operates and accustom shipping companies, fishermen, governments and armed forces to coexist with that constant presence. If that situation ends up being perceived as the new normal, Beijing will have advanced an important part of its strategy without having formally initiated a blockade. The blockade before the war begins. Be that as it may, current operations show that a blockade no longer has to consist of suddenly closing all access to the island. can be built gradually through permanent patrols, inspections, military exercises, coast guard presence and psychological pressure on maritime traffic. From that perspective, China seems to have understood that the isolation of Taiwan does not begin the day a war is declared, but much earlier, when the siege becomes a part of the everyday landscape and each new step is less surprising than the previous one. Image | Coast Guard News In Xataka | The US moved its aircraft carriers away from Asia to protect them: China has just published a manual to hunt them from 3,000 km In Xataka | Taiwan has been inspired by Ukraine by giving its citizens a weapon against China: “It’s like acquiring a new skill”